Description:
Come early to enjoy wine and gourmet pizzetta at Olivera Cafe in the lobby. Ticket sales in the Emerson Lobby start at 6:15 PM the day of the show or you can buy tickets in advance at Cactus Records. The price is $5.00 for students or seniors or $7.00 for general admission.
Winner - 2007 Cinema Brazil Grand Prize Official Brazilian Entry - 2008 Academy Awards
Brazil's foreign film submission for the 80th Academy Awards, Cao Hamburger's The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is a wonderful film showing the joys and innocence of childhood. With heart, humour and a great, realistic story, Hamburger directs and writes with care and the final result is what could be called Brazil's answer to Cinema Paradiso. Much like the first act of that beloved Italian film, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation follows a young boy called Mauro as he befriends a kindly man. Much like the film palace in Cinema Paradiso brings the little Italian community together, the sport of football, Brazil's favourite pastime, allows the troubles of the outside world to fly off so they can watch Pele score goal after goal. The film is done a realistic fashion, portrayed early-70's Brazil very closely, adding little touches here and there.
The lead performance from new-comer Michel Joelsas is natural, putting himself up there with the child actors in Bicycle Thieves and Cinema Paradiso, among other cultural master-works. Germano Haiut, who plays the boy's new guardian, Shlomo, does some great work as well, slipping from Yiddish to Portuguese and back seamlessly. The natural feel of the actors makes one wonder if Hamburger was heavily inspired by the Italian neo-realist films of the 1940's.
Along with the serious dramatic moments in the film, there's also plenty of humour intact. Shlomo's realisation that the boy is not Jewish is both poignant, but also done in a funny way. When his rabbi tells him that the boy is like Moses of Egypt, dropped down at his door-step, he begins calling him "Moshele." And soon afterwards, giggles are produced when Mauro hears the story of Moses and connects him with the Pharoah's daughter. Mauro may not be Jewish, but everyone in the community comes together to help him, while his parents are away on "férias." And that's part of what makes this such a charming little film. It's not cynical, but it provides a good message and not done over-emotionally. Hamburger hits the right notes, bringing a time and a place not typically explored in films and bringing it out into the world. It's a surprise the Academy's foreign film branch didn't nominate it, as it certainly fits up their alley.
Age Group: All Ages Venue: Emerson Cultural Center Address: Crawford Theater Phone: 585.8881
Emerson Cultural Center
